This blog is intended to document
the development of "An Arcade Project", a site-specific piece of dance focused
around the Westminster Arcade in downtown Providence, Rhode Island.

This project has been made possible by a grant from the Creative Arts Council of Brown University.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Plan of action

In my first post I wrote that,

I am interested in using dance performance to (re)present urban spaces (specifically unused, abandoned, or ‘forgotten’ spaces) in unexpected ways. In doing so, my hope is to encourage and facilitate different ways of understanding the pasts and presents of the sites, and to raise question about the changes of the materiality and meanings of sites over time.

But just how am I planning to go about doing this? Here are my current thoughts on this question:
The initial steps are to research the building’s ownership, current status, etc., and to establish contact with relevant parties so I can make this project happen. Next, archival research. What materials exist relating to the building’s past? What picture does the archive paint of the building and its place in Providence’s history? What (his)stories does the archive suggest? I plan to complement the archival research with interviews conducted with people who have experienced the Arcade at various points in time. My hope is to gain an insight into the perceptions and memories of the Arcade that people hold today. This collection of research materials from the historical archives, the interviews, and my own photo and video documentation will then be used to generate the movement content of the piece in collaboration with the dancers.

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About Me

I am an independent dance artist based in London. I am interested in making site-specific work that is informed by my background in archaeological approaches to urban space, and that (re)presents the site in unexpected and provocative ways.